About Me

Lee Creek, North Shuswap near Chase, B.C, Canada
We went full-time Rving in October of 2005! We retired from full time to part-time as of the end of 2015. Our present "small but comfortable" Wagon is a 2008 Camper trailer(TravelAir Rustler), pulled by a 2008 Dodge Dakota, 4X4.l. Our home is now a Gated Community Park, in Oliver, British-Columbia, Canada. I retired in 2005 and my Life Companion, Valerie, retired October 1, 2006 from nursing. We invite you to follow and share our new adventures and mishaps. Life is but an adventure full of dreams yet to be fulfilled!

Sunday, July 31, 2011

July 27 to 31, 2011; Visit from Jeffrey

JUL 27, Wednesday,
Cloudy but warm all day with some sunny break; work for both of us! Val went to Costco in Kamloops in the afternoon to pick up some items including her eye lenses. We had a quiet evening at home today.


JUL 28, Thursday,
Is summer finally here? It was a beautiful day, blue sky all day and the temperature climbing to 26*C. My son Jeffrey arrived in the afternoon and after Happy Hour with a few couples from the Park, we took his boat to the launching pad to get it in the water; he will be sleeping there, at our dock. IT was early bed for me.


JUL 29, Friday
Beautiful day again! Work was crazy today, we have an employee off on WCB and there were only two of us to do it all but we managed! Val and Jeffrey hung around here most of the day and when I got home, I BBQ’ed hamburgers and corn on the cob from Abbotsford (Thanks to Ron and Theresa for bringing them in). Quiet evening at home and early to be for me


JUL 30, Saturday,
Sunny and warmer today! A few more people arrived late last night at Gateway. Val and Jeff spent the day sunning themselves while I slaved away earning a living! (YUCK!). Anyway, it wasn’t that hard a day and Happy Hour was waiting when I got home at Bob and Gail. I learned that Ed’s utility trailer which contained an ATV, a hunting rifle and all his hunting equipment was stolen during the night. He had two wheel locks and a hitch lock which were lying on the ground in the morning. A trailer with two skidoos was also taken so it looks like a well planned job. Nothing else was touched in the compound.


JUL 31, Sunday,
My day off! It rained overnight but now the sun is shining. I cooked pancakes for everyone this morning. Jeff decided to go home today so early afternoon, I took his truck and trailer to the park while him and Val took the boat. We loaded it and came back home. Soon after, Jeff left!
We had Happy Hour with Gail & Bob and Theresa and Ron who returned from their trip to Barker Ville with Marcel & Donna. For dinner, it was corn on the cob and chicken with salad. We sat with our neighbour Race by his fire in the evening and Brook came by for a visit with people from Germany.
Another month gone by!!

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

July 21 to 26, 2011;Visit from Chilliwack

JUL 21, Thursday
It rained overnight bit cleared some in the morning to allow us to cut the lawn in the Park however it did rain by noon causing us to call it quit early. After lunch it was back to sunshine and the routine continued.
At home, Val did the laundry and when I got home, Bob and Gail came over for Happy Hour!


JUL 23, Saturday,
A cloudy bit warm day; the sun did make an effort of coming out a couple times. After lunch at work, I was driving out back to the Park when I ran into Rochelle and Kevin on their bike; they had been looking for me. After a quick chat, they went to Gateway and I worked until 2:30 when I quit and went home.
After a drink and chat, the four of us went to Salmon Arm and had dinner at a restaurant on the lake. We came home after gassing up and picking up our mail then had a fire and proceeded to drink too much wine.


JUL 24, Sunday
The day began and stayed the way Shuswap usually is...sunny and warm! Rochelle had a hang-over this morning...wonder why!? We had a nice breakfast, cooked by yours truly and then had a short visit before Kevin got the itch to move on. They got all their gear, climbed on the bike and rode into the morning sun. We had a marvellous visit and I hope they return soon.
I had a snooze in the afternoon and at 4 pm; we had Happy Hour with Bob & Gail, Dan & Lori and Race. For dinner, we had fish and rice then it was relaxing time.


JUL 25, Monday,
The day began sunny and promising but as usual, it clouded over later in the afternoon. Bob and I went to Enderby to pick up a washer which they (Gail and Bob) gave to us. We brought it home and I hooked it up behind our rig and outside the shed. For draining it, I ran a hose to the back of the shed and into the gully behind us. We ran a trial wash and all worked well. The only think I don’t like about all this...it makes me feel like this is becoming a permanent encampment!?? Val went for an interview at the Super Value grocery store in Scotch Creek and got a job as Janitor/cashier. She is quite happy about it too! While she was having her interview, I went to Rona and picked up some items I need to re-build my leg pads and slats for the Gazebo. Happy hour at our place tonight!


JUL 26, Tuesday,
Back to work! Val got up at 4:30 and me, at 6:30 a.m. It was a cloudy and muggy day. A quiet day at home for the evening and Val is OK with her new job.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

July 16 to 19, 2011; Lee Creek

JUL 16, Saturday,
My Friday at work! It was a busy day as they had a “Kids Day” with all the trimmings which made it difficult for us to get around with all the kids riding everywhere. Val got her cheque brought home by Donna and we had a quick happy Hour before the skies opened up once again with torrential rain.


JUL 17, Sunday,
More rain overnight but now the blue sky is making its way through all those heavy clouds; the sun is even shining from time to time. I washed Brook’s trailer since he let us use it while ours was in the garage then I washed ours...I felt ambitious!!! I had a snooze afterwards and was awakened by a rain downpour which was followed by sunshine...go try to understand this crazy weather!!?


JUL 18, Monday
The morning began cloudy and grey with a few drizzles. Later in the morning we went to Salmon Arm for mail and groceries. We got back around 2 pm and put everything away then just relaxed and enjoy the sun which decided to show up for a few hours. We had Happy Hour with Bob and Gail who have their two grand-children over for the rest of the summer. So far the weather is holding!
I have uploaded some pictures in Web Picasa.


JUL 19, Tuesday
Back to work for me! When I got to work I found out that there was a gale force wind that went through the park on Sunday morning and caused a lot of damages including a trailer being crushed by a huge tree but thankfully, no one was hurt. We spent the day cleaning the mess along with our daily duties. It was cool but muggy from high humidity. Val went to Kelowna today and visited with a friend there who was family-in-law at one time. She got home around 7 pm. safe and sound.


JUL 20, Wednesday
Cloudy in the morning with sunshine in the afternoon, muggy but a cool breeze came up later in the day. It was more cleaning and clearing today. I took a couple pictures but once again it doesn’t really show all the damages. In the evening, Bob and Gail came over for a drink then it was dinner time: hamburger and sweet corn!

Friday, July 15, 2011

July 10 to 15, 2011; repairs on BEAR completed!

JULY 10, Sunday
A relaxing day, we went to Salmon Arm to get our mail and then drove back home. We had Happy Hour with Gail and Bob then came home and had dinner. It was a sunny day with clouds but very warm. We also moved clothes and food to Brook’s trailer as ours is going to Kamloops tomorrow for repair.


JUL 11, Monday, Repair in Kamloops
I took the rig over to DARGO in Kamloops to have the suspension fixed first thing in the morning. Val stayed back as Tucker has an appointment for a haircut. When I got to DRAGO, he looked at the damage and made a comment that the frame was not quite heavy enough to support the weight. I took more pictures which don’t seem to show the extent of the damage. From here, I went to BCAA to renew my insurance on the truck then to Costco to pick up a couple items then drove home. Tucker looks great and we settled in in our new home for the next day or two.


JUL 12, Tuesday, back to work
Yes back to work for another day; Val also went to work in Kamloops. It was an overcast day with some sunny periods but around 4 pm, the sky broke open and it rained for most of the evening, heavy at times.


JUL 13, Wednesday,
It was a warm night again. To work in the morning and at lunch time it heavily poured for about an hour. I’ve never seen such a torrent. Two of the employees got caught in it and by the time they got back to the office, they were soaked. Val came over for a short visit then it was back to work. I also called DRAGO only to find out they hadn’t started on the rig yet. I told him we had to get it back soon as we lived on it. I’ll call again the morning to push and reinforce the point. Val is getting ready for her test tomorrow and has not eaten anything since this morning and has to swallow this stuff to make go to the bathroom which is not very pleasant for her.


JUL 14, Thursday
While at work, I got a call from DRAGO that our rig was ready. I finished the job I was doing which was operating the tractor lawn mower and at 1 pm, I left work and drove to Kamloops. I took an inspection of the trailer’s suspension and found it very soundly reinforced. They straighten the “I” beam flange, replaced the 4 springs to stronger one, put tube reinforcing rod between all three brackets holding the springs (6 total) and greased everything and repacked the wheel bearings. I paid the bill and was back at our site by 4 pm and all set-up. It’s great to have our house back, especially our bed. As soon as I have pictures of the work done, I will post them!


JUL 15, Friday
The day started cloudy and cold. The sun finally came out around 5 pm. Work consisted of doing recycling, picking up garbage and doing some weed-eating work. They had a BBQ hot dog with all the trimmings, soft drinks and home cook beans (straight from the can). It was “Employee Appreciation Day” and everything was cooked by the managers adn to make things better, it was payday for us. Our lunch break was a bit longer then our usual 30 minutes but we eventually had to go back to work and finish the day. Val spent the day cleaning Brook’s trailer where we stayed, doing laundry and then worked in her garden. Our neighbour, Al, came over and dropped off 10 dozen beer that he bought while in Alberta (much cheaper and NO HST!!)

Sunday, July 10, 2011

June 6 to 9, 2011; Gateway and work

JUL 6, Wednesday,
Another easy day at work for me! Val also went to work, she got a new job supervising practicum student at the Open Learning in Kamloops. We had Happy Hour at Bruce & Joyce, our new neighbours. There was an open house presentation on Gateway at the fire hall in Scotch Creek. A few of our neighbours attended and I gather there were a few surprises and upset owners including me when I heard. For one thing, they are planning on cutting back on the storage area and put more commercial buildings. This could affect a lot of us on the storage issue. They are also planning on building effluent storage tanks from our sewer treatment plant in the present compound and those near are not very happy. The saga continues


JUL 7, Thursday

Same as yesterday! It was sunny and hot today, work, work, work!


JUL 8, Friday,
It poured rain last night and overnight, heavy at times and lots of lightning and thunder. Most of the morning was rain but it did clear up in the afternoon. I went to work and Val went to Chase to bottle our wine and picked up some groceries. It was business as usual at work even if it rained; we still had to clean sites and make sure everyone was content.


JUL 9, Saturday
There was a “Rate Payer Committee meeting in Scotch Creek and Val attended with Bob and Gail and Ron & Theresa. More complaints about Gateway on that front and they are adamant in stopping the project but that nothing new; we had the same stories last year
Last day at work for this week and it was quiet. I heard all about the meeting when I got home and at Happy Hour. Neighbours Dan & Heather joined us. For dinner, Val made BBQ Pork Chops and I cooked them on the BBQ. Ron and Theresa joined us for dinner then we played Wizard!

Tuesday, July 05, 2011

July 1 to 5, 2011; Gateway

JUL 1, Friday
A cloudy day and a bit cool but comfortable. For me, it was work, for Val it was another day at home doing chores and errands. Jeff and Debbie left early this morning for Calgary. When I got home, we went over to Bob and Gail for Happy Hour; Marcel joined us.


JUL 2, Saturday

A nice day, warm and sunny! This is my Friday so it was a quiet day at work. The park is full with campers in the overflow parking lot. I am glad I won’t be here tomorrow when there is a mass exit of campers leaving for the end of the week-end.
I got home in time for Happy hour with the gang. Our neighbour Ron and Theresa have arrived for the week. Val decided on fish for dinner after everyone left then it was relax time.


JUL 3, Sunday,
I think that my age and lack of exercises is catching up to me! The last few days, my back has really been bothering me to the point where I have problems bending over. Either I lose weight and get into exercises but probably both. It’s been a sunny day with a couple drizzle, just to remind us that summer is quite not here yet. I dumped the tanks and Val watered her gardens. We got a call from Jeff that they should be home around 6 pm. Val had a roast on for dinner for all and it was delicious with all the trimmings. We called my son-in-law, Kevin, for his birthday (one day late).


JUL 4, Monday,
Sunny and warm! We went to Salmon Arm to pick up our mail and some groceries. Jeff and Debbie stayed in Lee Creek and played on the boat. We got back around 3 pm, put everything away and then had happy hour with Jeff and Deb. After dinner, we had a fire and our neighbours Bob & Gail and Ron & Theresa joined us.


JUL 5, Tuesday,
Back to work for me. Val did the laundry and did a couple errands in Chase. Work was quiet and not too busy. I stopped at the garage on the way home to fill Brook’s propane tanks (2) and mine. Jeff and Deb left early this morning. We had Happy Hour at Russ and Joyce, new neighbours who bought Jack and Mim’s lot.